CNN
"US military admits it killed 10 civilians and targeted wrong vehicle in Kabul airstrike"
By Anna Coren, Julia Hollingsworth, Sandi Sidhu and Zachary Cohen, CNN
Updated 5:26 PM ET, Fri September 17, 2021
(CNN) - A United States military investigation into a deadly Kabul drone strike on a vehicle in August has found it killed 10 civilians and the driver and that the vehicle targeted was likely not a threat associated with ISIS-K, announced Gen. Frank McKenzie, the top general of US Central Command, at the Pentagon on Friday.
McKenzie told reporters that the strike -- which he said killed seven children -- was a "mistake" and offered an apology.
"This strike was taken in the earnest belief that it would prevent an imminent threat to our forces and the evacuees at the airport, but it was a mistake and I offer my sincere apology," he said.
McKenzie added that he is "fully responsible for this strike and this tragic outcome."
The Pentagon's announcement will likely fuel more criticism of the Biden administration's chaotic evacuation of Kabul and handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan more broadly.
While McKenzie stressed Friday that future strikes will likely be held to a higher standard, confirmation of the civilian death toll also provides insight into the obstacles ahead for military and intelligence officials tasked with fulfilling President Joe Biden's promise to make the terror group "pay" for its deadly suicide attack in Kabul.
The Pentagon had maintained that at least one ISIS-K facilitator and three civilians were killed in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called a "righteous strike" on the compound on August 29.
The investigation released Friday found that all of those killed in the residential compound were civilians.
In the lead up to the strike, drone operators surveilled the courtyard for up to 4 to 5 minutes.
In that time, a male driver left the vehicle.
One child was parking the vehicle and other children were present in the car and the courtyard -- as CNN had been told by the Ahmadi family.
The military based the strike on a reasonable certainty standard to launch the strike on the vehicle.
Tragically, it was the wrong vehicle, a US military official familiar with the investigation told CNN earlier Friday, adding that reasonable certainty is not 100% certainty.
"We didn't take the strike because we thought we were wrong -- we took the strike because we thought we had a good target," McKenzie said.
While he acknowledged that the strike "was a terrible mistake," he said he would "not qualify the entire operation" as a failure.
Asked by a reporter to explain how the "complete and utter failure" could have occurred, McKenzie said, "While I agree that this strike certainly did not come up to our standards and I profoundly regret it, I would not qualify the entire operation in those terms."
Previously, US Central Command pointed to "significant secondary explosions" as evidence of a "substantial amount of explosive material" in the vehicle.
On Friday, the US military source said that after reviewing footage from infra-red sensors, they would no longer characterize this as an explosion -- instead, it was more of a flare up.
The US official said that in the time leading up to the strike, the US had at least 60 different intelligence reports about threat streams toward US forces at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
A US official with direct knowledge of the standards for a strike of this nature told CNN earlier this month that 10 civilian deaths is an "astronomically high" number and the military would have conducted collateral damage estimates beforehand, meaning commanders were aware that there was a potential for civilian casualties.
"Had we cooperation with any local partner, we would have never fired a missile at the vehicle but tried to get to the drivers before they got in the car," one former intelligence official with knowledge of how these strikes are carried out previously told CNN.
"That assumes we had intel on the car as opposed to the people, and maybe after it was already in route, which leaves far fewer options."
Response to the findings
Biden was briefed on the details of the investigation on Friday morning, an official said.
In a speech last month, the President hailed the strike as an example of the US ability to target ISIS-K.
The White House has not yet commented on the investigation's findings.
On Friday, Milley released a statement on the strike calling it "a horrible tragedy."
"In a dynamic high-threat environment, the commanders on the ground had appropriate authority and had reasonable certainty that the target was valid, but after deeper post-strike analysis, our conclusion is that innocent civilians were killed," Milley said in a statement.
"This is a horrible tragedy of war and its [sic] heart wrenching and we are committed to being fully transparent about this incident," he added.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also apologized for the strike in a statement on Friday, and offered condolences to the family of Zamarai Ahmadi, the driver of the car targeted in the strike.
"We now know that there was no connection between Mr. Ahmadi and ISIS-Khorasan, that his activities on that day were completely harmless and not at all related to the imminent threat we believed we faced, and that Mr. Ahmadi was just as innocent a victim as were the others tragically killed," he said.
Austin said he is directing a "thorough review" of the investigation conducted by Central Command and the information that led the US military to conduct it.
Austin said the military, when it has reason to believe it has taken innocent life, "investigate it and, if true, we admit it."
"But we also must work just as hard to prevent recurrence -- no matter the circumstances, the intelligence stream or the operational pressures under which we labor," he added.
"We will do that in this case."
Human rights group, Amnesty International said Friday's admission was an an "important step toward accountability" but added that Washington needs to take more steps, including paying reparations to family members and survivors of the strike.
"The US must now commit to a full, transparent, and impartial investigation into this incident."
"Anyone suspected of criminal responsibility should be prosecuted in a fair trial," said Brian Castner, a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty International's Crisis Response Program.
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff said in a statement Friday that "after such a devastating failure - one that, by the Department's estimate, killed 10 civilians, at least 7 of them children - it cannot be the last step."
"We need to know what went wrong in the hours and minutes leading up to the strike to prevent similar tragedies in the future," the California Democrat said, adding that his committee "will continue to press for answers."
This story has been updated with further developments.
CNN's Katie Bo Williams, Oren Liebermann, Ellie Kaufman, Jennifer Hansler and Michael Conte contributed to this report.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/17/politics ... index.html
POLITICS
Re: POLITICS
NPR
"Idaho Is Rationing Health Care Statewide As It Struggles To Cope With COVID-19"
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 16, 2021
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, on Wednesday asked state health leaders to allow "crisis standards of care" because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources.
Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U.S. states, with only about 40% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Only Wyoming and West Virginia have lower vaccination rates.
Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive.
Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care.
Thursday's move came a week after Idaho officials started allowing health care rationing at hospitals in northern parts of the state.
"The situation is dire – we don't have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for COVID-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident," Idaho Department of Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said in statement.
He urged people to get vaccinated and wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.
"Our hospitals and healthcare systems need our help."
"The best way to end crisis standards of care is for more people to get vaccinated."
"It dramatically reduces your chances of having to go to the hospital if you do get sick from COVID-19," Jeppesen said.
One in every 201 Idaho residents tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The mostly rural state ranks 12th in the U.S. for newly confirmed cases per capita.
More than 1,300 new coronavirus cases were reported to the state on Wednesday, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Hospitalizations have skyrocketed.
On Monday, the most recent data available from the state showed that 678 people were hospitalized statewide with coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds has stayed mostly flat for the last two weeks at 70 people each day — suggesting the state may have reached the limit of its ability to treat ICU patients.
Though all of the state's hospitals can now ration health care resources as needed, some might not need to take that step.
Each hospital will decide how to implement the crisis standards of care in its own facility, public health officials said.
Kootenai Health in the city of Coeur d'Alene was the first hospital in the state to officially enter crisis standards of care last week.
At the time, Chief of Staff Dr. Robert Scoggins said some patients were being treated in a conference center that had been converted into a field hospital.
Others received treatment in hallways or in converted emergency room lobbies.
Urgent and elective surgeries are on hold across much of the state.
On Wednesday, nearly 92% of all of the COVID-19 patients in St. Luke's hospitals were unvaccinated.
Sixty one of the hospital's 78 ICU patients had COVID-19.
St. Luke's physicians have pleaded with Idaho residents for months to get vaccinated and take steps to slow the spread of coronavirus, warning that hospitals beds were quickly running out.
Public health officials have warned Idaho residents for weeks to take extra care to ensure they don't end up in hospitals.
Last week, Jeppesen said residents should take their medications as prescribed, wear seatbelts and reconsider participating in any activities such as cycling that could lead to injuries.
The health care crisis isn't just impacting hospitals — primary care physicians and medical equipment suppliers are also struggling to cope with the crush of coronavirus-related demand.
One major medical supplier, Norco Medical, said demand for oxygen tanks and related equipment has increased, sometimes forcing the company to send patients home with fewer cylinders than they would normally provide.
The company is also asking people to return unused or unneeded oxygen tanks so they will have enough on hand for the surge.
"There is a limit to everything, my leadership team and I were actually discussing this and we certainly all agreed that the word we'd like to use right now is that things are getting tight," Norco President Elias Margonis told Boise television station KTVB.
"The concern is how much tighter will it get."
Primary Health Medical Group, Idaho's largest independent primary care and urgent care system, late last month was forced to shorten operating hours because its waiting rooms were so packed with patients that staffers were staying hours past closing in order to see them all.
Meanwhile, the company was dealing with higher-than-normal numbers of staffers out sick because they had been exposed to coronavirus in the community or had symptoms and were awaiting tests.
Vaccination provides strong protection against becoming seriously ill with coronavirus, but the highly contagious delta variant can still cause "breakthrough" cases in vaccinated people.
As case numbers continued to increase, some of Primary Health Medical Group's 21 clinics in southwestern Idaho have had to stop operating on weekends or close certain days of the week, said CEO Dr. David Peterman.
Now the medical group is also preparing to monitor its patients who are released earlier than they normally would be from the hospital after emergencies, Peterman said.
"We will see more visits with patients that are avoiding the emergency room and patients who are sicker and need more care," Peterman said.
"We are setting up a system right now to make sure over this weekend that we are immediately notified if one of our patients is discharged early from the hospital so we can make sure those patients are OK."
Resources have been exhausted across the medical system, Peterman said.
"This is heart-wrenching."
"I've practiced medicine in southwest Idaho for 40 years and I have never seen anything like this," he said.
"I feel for the doctors and the nurses and the staff in the hospital who are making very difficult decisions."
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/16/10379871 ... s-hospital
"Idaho Is Rationing Health Care Statewide As It Struggles To Cope With COVID-19"
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
September 16, 2021
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho public health leaders on Thursday expanded health care rationing statewide amid a massive increase in the number of coronavirus patients requiring hospitalization.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare made the announcement after St. Luke's Health System, Idaho's largest hospital network, on Wednesday asked state health leaders to allow "crisis standards of care" because the increase in COVID-19 patients has exhausted the state's medical resources.
Idaho is one of the least vaccinated U.S. states, with only about 40% of its residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Only Wyoming and West Virginia have lower vaccination rates.
Crisis care standards mean that scarce resources such as ICU beds will be allotted to the patients most likely to survive.
Other patients will be treated with less effective methods or, in dire cases, given pain relief and other palliative care.
Thursday's move came a week after Idaho officials started allowing health care rationing at hospitals in northern parts of the state.
"The situation is dire – we don't have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for COVID-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident," Idaho Department of Welfare Director Dave Jeppesen said in statement.
He urged people to get vaccinated and wear masks indoors and in crowded outdoor settings.
"Our hospitals and healthcare systems need our help."
"The best way to end crisis standards of care is for more people to get vaccinated."
"It dramatically reduces your chances of having to go to the hospital if you do get sick from COVID-19," Jeppesen said.
One in every 201 Idaho residents tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
The mostly rural state ranks 12th in the U.S. for newly confirmed cases per capita.
More than 1,300 new coronavirus cases were reported to the state on Wednesday, according to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.
Hospitalizations have skyrocketed.
On Monday, the most recent data available from the state showed that 678 people were hospitalized statewide with coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care unit beds has stayed mostly flat for the last two weeks at 70 people each day — suggesting the state may have reached the limit of its ability to treat ICU patients.
Though all of the state's hospitals can now ration health care resources as needed, some might not need to take that step.
Each hospital will decide how to implement the crisis standards of care in its own facility, public health officials said.
Kootenai Health in the city of Coeur d'Alene was the first hospital in the state to officially enter crisis standards of care last week.
At the time, Chief of Staff Dr. Robert Scoggins said some patients were being treated in a conference center that had been converted into a field hospital.
Others received treatment in hallways or in converted emergency room lobbies.
Urgent and elective surgeries are on hold across much of the state.
On Wednesday, nearly 92% of all of the COVID-19 patients in St. Luke's hospitals were unvaccinated.
Sixty one of the hospital's 78 ICU patients had COVID-19.
St. Luke's physicians have pleaded with Idaho residents for months to get vaccinated and take steps to slow the spread of coronavirus, warning that hospitals beds were quickly running out.
Public health officials have warned Idaho residents for weeks to take extra care to ensure they don't end up in hospitals.
Last week, Jeppesen said residents should take their medications as prescribed, wear seatbelts and reconsider participating in any activities such as cycling that could lead to injuries.
The health care crisis isn't just impacting hospitals — primary care physicians and medical equipment suppliers are also struggling to cope with the crush of coronavirus-related demand.
One major medical supplier, Norco Medical, said demand for oxygen tanks and related equipment has increased, sometimes forcing the company to send patients home with fewer cylinders than they would normally provide.
The company is also asking people to return unused or unneeded oxygen tanks so they will have enough on hand for the surge.
"There is a limit to everything, my leadership team and I were actually discussing this and we certainly all agreed that the word we'd like to use right now is that things are getting tight," Norco President Elias Margonis told Boise television station KTVB.
"The concern is how much tighter will it get."
Primary Health Medical Group, Idaho's largest independent primary care and urgent care system, late last month was forced to shorten operating hours because its waiting rooms were so packed with patients that staffers were staying hours past closing in order to see them all.
Meanwhile, the company was dealing with higher-than-normal numbers of staffers out sick because they had been exposed to coronavirus in the community or had symptoms and were awaiting tests.
Vaccination provides strong protection against becoming seriously ill with coronavirus, but the highly contagious delta variant can still cause "breakthrough" cases in vaccinated people.
As case numbers continued to increase, some of Primary Health Medical Group's 21 clinics in southwestern Idaho have had to stop operating on weekends or close certain days of the week, said CEO Dr. David Peterman.
Now the medical group is also preparing to monitor its patients who are released earlier than they normally would be from the hospital after emergencies, Peterman said.
"We will see more visits with patients that are avoiding the emergency room and patients who are sicker and need more care," Peterman said.
"We are setting up a system right now to make sure over this weekend that we are immediately notified if one of our patients is discharged early from the hospital so we can make sure those patients are OK."
Resources have been exhausted across the medical system, Peterman said.
"This is heart-wrenching."
"I've practiced medicine in southwest Idaho for 40 years and I have never seen anything like this," he said.
"I feel for the doctors and the nurses and the staff in the hospital who are making very difficult decisions."
https://www.npr.org/2021/09/16/10379871 ... s-hospital
Re: POLITICS
THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
"US closes Del Rio border crossing as thousands of migrants illegally cross"
Anna Giaritelli
18 SEPTEMBER 2021
The federal agency that oversees U.S. borders made the unprecedented move to shut down a port of entry between Mexico and Texas in response to an unmanageable flow of migrants, arriving in the thousands overnight.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Trade announced Friday evening that the Del Rio Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas, would immediately stop operating, not allowing traffic north into the United States or south into Mexico.
All vehicular traffic will have to travel an hour's drive to the next closest open port of entry between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico.
As of Friday morning, approximately 12,000 people had illegally crossed the border beneath the port of entry, wading through the border river to get into the U.S., and were waiting under the bridge to be taken into custody by Border Patrol agents.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-cl ... hp&pc=U531
"US closes Del Rio border crossing as thousands of migrants illegally cross"
Anna Giaritelli
18 SEPTEMBER 2021
The federal agency that oversees U.S. borders made the unprecedented move to shut down a port of entry between Mexico and Texas in response to an unmanageable flow of migrants, arriving in the thousands overnight.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of Trade announced Friday evening that the Del Rio Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas, would immediately stop operating, not allowing traffic north into the United States or south into Mexico.
All vehicular traffic will have to travel an hour's drive to the next closest open port of entry between Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico.
As of Friday morning, approximately 12,000 people had illegally crossed the border beneath the port of entry, wading through the border river to get into the U.S., and were waiting under the bridge to be taken into custody by Border Patrol agents.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-cl ... hp&pc=U531
Re: POLITICS
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 AT 11:13 AM
Paul Plante says:
The word “science” here in Mhureeka, formerly known in far better times as the United States of America, has become an empty, stupid word that means whatever some greedy, grasping hack politician or their toadies and lickspittles want it to mean, which is pretty much everything under the sun, so long as it serves THEIR purposes.
And there is no such thing as “the science.”
What a stupid expression that is.
SCIENCE: the intellectual and practical ACTIVITY encompassing the SYSTEMATIC STUDY of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
What is the best definition of science?
Science is the STUDY of the nature and behaviour of natural things and the knowledge that we obtain about them.
A science is a particular branch of science such as physics, chemistry, or biology.
Physics is the best example of a science which has developed strong, abstract theories.
What is the true meaning of science?
The AIM of science is to build true and accurate KNOWLEDGE about how the world works.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-426755
Paul Plante says:
The word “science” here in Mhureeka, formerly known in far better times as the United States of America, has become an empty, stupid word that means whatever some greedy, grasping hack politician or their toadies and lickspittles want it to mean, which is pretty much everything under the sun, so long as it serves THEIR purposes.
And there is no such thing as “the science.”
What a stupid expression that is.
SCIENCE: the intellectual and practical ACTIVITY encompassing the SYSTEMATIC STUDY of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
What is the best definition of science?
Science is the STUDY of the nature and behaviour of natural things and the knowledge that we obtain about them.
A science is a particular branch of science such as physics, chemistry, or biology.
Physics is the best example of a science which has developed strong, abstract theories.
What is the true meaning of science?
The AIM of science is to build true and accurate KNOWLEDGE about how the world works.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-426755
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"Biden administration seeks to protect Americans from extreme heat"
Reuters
September 20, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday ordered his administration to seek ways to ensure people are protected from extreme heat, including through work-related rules and other cooling efforts.
The order comes as public health and environmental groups have put pressure on the administration to create enforceable standards for outdoor workers exposed to extreme heat, at a time when the number of high heat days is projected to increase significantly due to climate change.
Excessive heat in the Pacific Northwest this summer, for instance, led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses, the administration said.
The essential outdoor jobs in sectors like agriculture, construction and delivery services are the most exposed to extreme heat and are disproportionately held by people of color, the administration said in a statement.
"Rising temperatures pose an imminent threat to millions of American workers exposed to the elements, to kids in schools without air conditioning, to seniors in nursing homes without cooling resources, and particularly to disadvantaged communities," Biden said in a statement.
Various federal government departments and agencies are being tapped to help provide cooling assistance to homes and neighborhoods and to ensure safe working conditions, Biden said.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will develop a process to create a workplace heat standard.
The department will enforce the standard in part through workplace inspections on days when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).
The administration also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to expand a program that provides home energy assistance to low-income Americans to allow for purchases of air conditioning units and to establish cooling centers.
Meanwhile the Environmental Protection Agency is coordinating the development of neighborhood cooling centers at public school facilities.
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Valerie Volcovici; editing by Doina Chiacu and Alistair Bell
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-20/
"Biden administration seeks to protect Americans from extreme heat"
Reuters
September 20, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday ordered his administration to seek ways to ensure people are protected from extreme heat, including through work-related rules and other cooling efforts.
The order comes as public health and environmental groups have put pressure on the administration to create enforceable standards for outdoor workers exposed to extreme heat, at a time when the number of high heat days is projected to increase significantly due to climate change.
Excessive heat in the Pacific Northwest this summer, for instance, led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of emergency room visits for heat-related illnesses, the administration said.
The essential outdoor jobs in sectors like agriculture, construction and delivery services are the most exposed to extreme heat and are disproportionately held by people of color, the administration said in a statement.
"Rising temperatures pose an imminent threat to millions of American workers exposed to the elements, to kids in schools without air conditioning, to seniors in nursing homes without cooling resources, and particularly to disadvantaged communities," Biden said in a statement.
Various federal government departments and agencies are being tapped to help provide cooling assistance to homes and neighborhoods and to ensure safe working conditions, Biden said.
The Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration will develop a process to create a workplace heat standard.
The department will enforce the standard in part through workplace inspections on days when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).
The administration also directed the Department of Health and Human Services to expand a program that provides home energy assistance to low-income Americans to allow for purchases of air conditioning units and to establish cooling centers.
Meanwhile the Environmental Protection Agency is coordinating the development of neighborhood cooling centers at public school facilities.
Reporting by Susan Heavey and Valerie Volcovici; editing by Doina Chiacu and Alistair Bell
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-20/
Re: POLITICS
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 20, 2021 AT 6:07 PM
Paul Plante says:
Which takes us to Remarks by President Biden on the Economy on September 16, 2021, East Room, 2:00 P.M. EDT, as follows:
THE PRESIDENT: These policies are what the science tells us we need to do.
They’re going to save lives.
And they’ll protect our economic recovery as well, and allow the economy to continue to grow.
We’re also going after the bad actors and pandemic profiteers in our economy.
There’s a lot of evidence that gas prices should be going down, but they haven’t.
We’ll be taking a close look at that.
Taxpayers in this country also have paid for extraordinary effort to keep our country going over the past year or so.
Unlike the last administration, which resisted oversight and allowed taxpayers to be victimized by fraud, we’re working hard to protect vulnerable Americans from having their identities stolen — as a consequence of their unemployment check stolen as well.
But here’s the truth: Yes, the pandemic has caused a lot of economic problems in the country, but the fact is our economy faced challenges long before this pandemic struck.
Working people were struggling to make it long before the pandemic arrived.
Big corporations and the very wealthy were doing very well before the pandemic.
That’s why I’ve said — starting back in my campaign for president — that it’s not enough just to build back; we have to build back better than before.
And that’s how it all begins.
end quotes
And see what you can make the science say if you are the president of the United State of America?
You, like another self-proclaimed “world leader” back when who was a rug-chewing, froth-at-the-out madman, can use “science” to justify every single thing you do, like removing segments of society from life on the earth because the science says it is not only alright, but the right thing to do, which is obscene.
Reminds me too much of Dr. Mengele, who also used science as a basis for political policy.
And IF science is not what Joe Biden says it is, but instead is truly the intellectual and practical ACTIVITY encompassing the SYSTEMATIC STUDY of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, then as we clearly see from a CNBC article entitled “FDA panel recommends Pfizer’s Covid booster doses for people 65 and older after rejecting third shots for general population” by Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Robert Towey and Rich Mendez on September 17, 2021, Joe Biden does not have any “science” to rely on to back up or support any of his policies, to wit:
Dr. Hayley Gans, a voting member, said she was “struck” that the FDA was asking the committee to look at the totality of the evidence presented Friday because some data, including on safety, was still insufficient.
end quotes
But hey, people, this is not true “science,” at all.
To the contrary this is POLITICS, using the empty word “science” to justify a pre-determined political course of action, in this case, a decision by Joe Biden to mandate vaccines based on insufficient data.
Don’t look too hard and it is amazing what it is that you won’t see!
As to science that makes it look like both WHO and the political CDC in this country were asleep at the switch and far behind the eight-ball with respect to Joe Biden’s policies today that he says are what the voo-doo science he practices tells him to do, I will leave you with the following:
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY COLLECTION
ACS Nano. 2020 Nov 25 : acsnano.0c08484.
Published online 2020 Nov 25. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c08484
PMCID: PMC7724984
PMID: 33236896
Airborne Transmission of COVID-19: Aerosol Dispersion, Lung Deposition, and Virus-Receptor Interactions
Yi Y. Zuo, corresponding author, William E. Uspal, corresponding author and Tao Wei corresponding author
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is now causing a global pandemic.
Aerosol transmission of COVID-19, although plausible, has not been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a general transmission route.
Introduction
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to infection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is currently causing a global pandemic, with more than 53 million confirmed cases and 1 million deaths, as of November 15, 2020, in more than 200 countries, areas, and territories in the world.
Given the current world population of 7.8 billion, approximately 1 out of every 150 humans on earth has or had been infected with COVID-19.
To date, the confirmed modes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission include respiratory droplets, direct (person-to-person) and indirect (fomite) contacts, as well as scarce reports of fecal–oral transmission.
However, the latest research suggests that fomite transmission is unlikely to be a major route of transmission as attempts to culture SARS-CoV-2 from surfaces were largely unsuccessful.
On the other hand, airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, although plausible, has not been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a general transmission route.
However, on October 5, 2020, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their guideline and acknowledged that airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 could occur under special circumstances that include enclosed spaces, inadequate ventilation, and prolonged exposure to events involving heavy breathing, such as singing and exercising.
Given the rapid spread of the coronavirus, especially nosocomial outbreaks and other superspreading events, there is an urgent need to carefully access the possibility of airborne transmission, especially the colloidal and aerodynamic mechanisms of aerosol dispersion and deposition, and the molecular interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and receptors.
An open letter by 239 researchers from 32 countries, published on July 6, 2020, challenged the WHO’s view on aerosol transmission.
Depending on the environmental conditions, virus particles (i.e., virions) may bind to aerosols and thus travel over a significantly longer distance (>2 m) and remain floating in air for a much longer time period (up to hours) than respiratory droplets.
It is now known that air pollution is an associated risk factor of COVID-19.
An increase of 1 μg/m3 in PM2.5 is associated with an 8% increase in the COVID-19 death rate.
In addition, it was found that outside the optimal relative humidity (RH) range of 40–60%, the viability of influenza virus in droplets increased both at higher (>60%) and lower (<40%) RH.
It appears that virus transmission in this outbreak cannot be explained by droplet transmission alone and consequently might involve aerosol transmission.
In fact, although available evidence remains scarce, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in hospital air.
A recent study suggested that in every hour COVID-19 patients can exhale millions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies into air.
Given a study demonstrating that SARS-CoV-2 remained viable in aerosols for at least 3 h with only limited reduction in infectious titer, there is an urgent need to understand the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via aerosols.
A similar humidity dependence has been found for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
E-cigarette aerosols have also been identified as suspicious anthropogenic aerosols potentially capable of spreading SARS-CoV-2.
Infectious aerosols can also be generated by medical procedures, such as intubation, and even by flushing a toilet containing infectious material.
Indeed, CDC guidelines, including the familiar six-foot rule, are still based on the 1930s-era concept of an isolated respiratory droplet settling under gravity, despite the wealth of contemporary literature reviewed above.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-427630
Paul Plante says:
Which takes us to Remarks by President Biden on the Economy on September 16, 2021, East Room, 2:00 P.M. EDT, as follows:
THE PRESIDENT: These policies are what the science tells us we need to do.
They’re going to save lives.
And they’ll protect our economic recovery as well, and allow the economy to continue to grow.
We’re also going after the bad actors and pandemic profiteers in our economy.
There’s a lot of evidence that gas prices should be going down, but they haven’t.
We’ll be taking a close look at that.
Taxpayers in this country also have paid for extraordinary effort to keep our country going over the past year or so.
Unlike the last administration, which resisted oversight and allowed taxpayers to be victimized by fraud, we’re working hard to protect vulnerable Americans from having their identities stolen — as a consequence of their unemployment check stolen as well.
But here’s the truth: Yes, the pandemic has caused a lot of economic problems in the country, but the fact is our economy faced challenges long before this pandemic struck.
Working people were struggling to make it long before the pandemic arrived.
Big corporations and the very wealthy were doing very well before the pandemic.
That’s why I’ve said — starting back in my campaign for president — that it’s not enough just to build back; we have to build back better than before.
And that’s how it all begins.
end quotes
And see what you can make the science say if you are the president of the United State of America?
You, like another self-proclaimed “world leader” back when who was a rug-chewing, froth-at-the-out madman, can use “science” to justify every single thing you do, like removing segments of society from life on the earth because the science says it is not only alright, but the right thing to do, which is obscene.
Reminds me too much of Dr. Mengele, who also used science as a basis for political policy.
And IF science is not what Joe Biden says it is, but instead is truly the intellectual and practical ACTIVITY encompassing the SYSTEMATIC STUDY of the structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, then as we clearly see from a CNBC article entitled “FDA panel recommends Pfizer’s Covid booster doses for people 65 and older after rejecting third shots for general population” by Berkeley Lovelace Jr., Robert Towey and Rich Mendez on September 17, 2021, Joe Biden does not have any “science” to rely on to back up or support any of his policies, to wit:
Dr. Hayley Gans, a voting member, said she was “struck” that the FDA was asking the committee to look at the totality of the evidence presented Friday because some data, including on safety, was still insufficient.
end quotes
But hey, people, this is not true “science,” at all.
To the contrary this is POLITICS, using the empty word “science” to justify a pre-determined political course of action, in this case, a decision by Joe Biden to mandate vaccines based on insufficient data.
Don’t look too hard and it is amazing what it is that you won’t see!
As to science that makes it look like both WHO and the political CDC in this country were asleep at the switch and far behind the eight-ball with respect to Joe Biden’s policies today that he says are what the voo-doo science he practices tells him to do, I will leave you with the following:
AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY COLLECTION
ACS Nano. 2020 Nov 25 : acsnano.0c08484.
Published online 2020 Nov 25. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c08484
PMCID: PMC7724984
PMID: 33236896
Airborne Transmission of COVID-19: Aerosol Dispersion, Lung Deposition, and Virus-Receptor Interactions
Yi Y. Zuo, corresponding author, William E. Uspal, corresponding author and Tao Wei corresponding author
Abstract
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to infection by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is now causing a global pandemic.
Aerosol transmission of COVID-19, although plausible, has not been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a general transmission route.
Introduction
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), due to infection of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is currently causing a global pandemic, with more than 53 million confirmed cases and 1 million deaths, as of November 15, 2020, in more than 200 countries, areas, and territories in the world.
Given the current world population of 7.8 billion, approximately 1 out of every 150 humans on earth has or had been infected with COVID-19.
To date, the confirmed modes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission include respiratory droplets, direct (person-to-person) and indirect (fomite) contacts, as well as scarce reports of fecal–oral transmission.
However, the latest research suggests that fomite transmission is unlikely to be a major route of transmission as attempts to culture SARS-CoV-2 from surfaces were largely unsuccessful.
On the other hand, airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2, although plausible, has not been confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a general transmission route.
However, on October 5, 2020, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated their guideline and acknowledged that airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 could occur under special circumstances that include enclosed spaces, inadequate ventilation, and prolonged exposure to events involving heavy breathing, such as singing and exercising.
Given the rapid spread of the coronavirus, especially nosocomial outbreaks and other superspreading events, there is an urgent need to carefully access the possibility of airborne transmission, especially the colloidal and aerodynamic mechanisms of aerosol dispersion and deposition, and the molecular interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and receptors.
An open letter by 239 researchers from 32 countries, published on July 6, 2020, challenged the WHO’s view on aerosol transmission.
Depending on the environmental conditions, virus particles (i.e., virions) may bind to aerosols and thus travel over a significantly longer distance (>2 m) and remain floating in air for a much longer time period (up to hours) than respiratory droplets.
It is now known that air pollution is an associated risk factor of COVID-19.
An increase of 1 μg/m3 in PM2.5 is associated with an 8% increase in the COVID-19 death rate.
In addition, it was found that outside the optimal relative humidity (RH) range of 40–60%, the viability of influenza virus in droplets increased both at higher (>60%) and lower (<40%) RH.
It appears that virus transmission in this outbreak cannot be explained by droplet transmission alone and consequently might involve aerosol transmission.
In fact, although available evidence remains scarce, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in hospital air.
A recent study suggested that in every hour COVID-19 patients can exhale millions of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies into air.
Given a study demonstrating that SARS-CoV-2 remained viable in aerosols for at least 3 h with only limited reduction in infectious titer, there is an urgent need to understand the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 transmission via aerosols.
A similar humidity dependence has been found for the transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
E-cigarette aerosols have also been identified as suspicious anthropogenic aerosols potentially capable of spreading SARS-CoV-2.
Infectious aerosols can also be generated by medical procedures, such as intubation, and even by flushing a toilet containing infectious material.
Indeed, CDC guidelines, including the familiar six-foot rule, are still based on the 1930s-era concept of an isolated respiratory droplet settling under gravity, despite the wealth of contemporary literature reviewed above.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-427630
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Delta variant outbreak infects highly vaccinated prison population, but few were hospitalized, CDC says"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED TUE, SEP 21 2021
KEY POINTS
* The coronavirus delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations but few were hospitalized, according to a CDC report.
* Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against Covid19.
* From July through August, 172 incarcerated people, or 74% of the federal prison’s population, were infected with Covid, according to the CDC.[/color]
The fast-spreading delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations, but few were hospitalized, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against Covid19, according to the new report, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
From July through August, 172 incarcerated people, or 74% of the federal prison’s population, were infected with Covid, according to the CDC.
The delta variant hit the unvaccinated harder, the agency said, infecting 39 out of the 42 prisoners who hadn’t gotten the shots.
That compares with the 129 infections out of 185 fully vaccinated people.
Four people were hospitalized, three of whom were unvaccinated, and one person died, who was unvaccinated, according to the CDC.
The agency said the report demonstrates the potential for delta variant outbreaks in congregate settings, including correctional and detention facilities, even among places and populations with high vaccination coverage.
“Although attack rates, hospitalizations, and deaths were higher among unvaccinated than among vaccinated persons, duration of positive serial test results was similar for both groups,” the agency wrote in the report.
Vaccinating most of the U.S. population remains critical as the shots are highly effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths, the agency said.
The new report comes as federal health officials urge all Americans to get vaccinated and continue to wear masks indoors, especially in congregated settings, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads across the country.
The U.S. still has a dangerously high number of cases.
The nation is reporting an average of more than 138,900 cases per day as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The country is reporting an average of more than 1,900 deaths per day, Johns Hopkins data shows.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden outlined a broad plan to boost Covid vaccination rates in the U.S., pressuring private employers to immunize their workforce as well as mandating the shots for federal employees, contractors and health-care workers.
The plan includes offering booster shots of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines to the general population.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday unanimously recommended Pfizer booster shots to people age 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans.
A final decision from the agency is expected any day now.
Data also provided by Reuters
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/21/cdc-del ... lized.html
"Delta variant outbreak infects highly vaccinated prison population, but few were hospitalized, CDC says"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED TUE, SEP 21 2021
KEY POINTS
* The coronavirus delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations but few were hospitalized, according to a CDC report.
* Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against Covid19.
* From July through August, 172 incarcerated people, or 74% of the federal prison’s population, were infected with Covid, according to the CDC.[/color]
The fast-spreading delta variant ripped through a federal prison in Texas over the summer, infecting both the unvaccinated and fully vaccinated populations, but few were hospitalized, according to a report published Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Among the 233 incarcerated people at the prison, which wasn’t named, 185, or 79%, were fully vaccinated against Covid19, according to the new report, published in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
From July through August, 172 incarcerated people, or 74% of the federal prison’s population, were infected with Covid, according to the CDC.
The delta variant hit the unvaccinated harder, the agency said, infecting 39 out of the 42 prisoners who hadn’t gotten the shots.
That compares with the 129 infections out of 185 fully vaccinated people.
Four people were hospitalized, three of whom were unvaccinated, and one person died, who was unvaccinated, according to the CDC.
The agency said the report demonstrates the potential for delta variant outbreaks in congregate settings, including correctional and detention facilities, even among places and populations with high vaccination coverage.
“Although attack rates, hospitalizations, and deaths were higher among unvaccinated than among vaccinated persons, duration of positive serial test results was similar for both groups,” the agency wrote in the report.
Vaccinating most of the U.S. population remains critical as the shots are highly effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalizations and deaths, the agency said.
The new report comes as federal health officials urge all Americans to get vaccinated and continue to wear masks indoors, especially in congregated settings, as the highly contagious delta variant spreads across the country.
The U.S. still has a dangerously high number of cases.
The nation is reporting an average of more than 138,900 cases per day as of Tuesday, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The country is reporting an average of more than 1,900 deaths per day, Johns Hopkins data shows.
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden outlined a broad plan to boost Covid vaccination rates in the U.S., pressuring private employers to immunize their workforce as well as mandating the shots for federal employees, contractors and health-care workers.
The plan includes offering booster shots of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines to the general population.
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday unanimously recommended Pfizer booster shots to people age 65 and older and other vulnerable Americans.
A final decision from the agency is expected any day now.
Data also provided by Reuters
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/21/cdc-del ... lized.html
Re: POLITICS
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 AT 5:39 PM
Paul Plante says:
And while we are on the subject of all the wonderful and awesome powers the “science” gives to Joe Biden as president of the United States of America, let’s go back to to Remarks by President Biden on the Economy on September 16, 2021, East Room, 2:00 P.M. EDT, where we have more, as follows:
THE PRESIDENT: These policies are what the science tells us we need to do.
But here’s the truth: Yes, the pandemic has caused a lot of economic problems in the country, but the fact is our economy faced challenges long before this pandemic struck.
Working people were struggling to make it long before the pandemic arrived.
Big corporations and the very wealthy were doing very well before the pandemic.
That’s why I’ve said — starting back in my campaign for president — that it’s not enough just to build back; we have to build back better than before.
And that’s how it all begins.
Big corporations and the super wealthy have to start paying their fair share of taxes.
It’s long overdue.
I’m not out to punish anyone.
I’m a capitalist.
If you can make a million or a billion dollars, that’s great.
God bless you.
All I’m asking is you pay your fair share.
Pay your fair share just like middle-class folks do.
But that isn’t happening now.
Today, in this country, right now, the top 1 percent, for example, evade an estimated $160 billion in taxes that they owe each year.
Not new taxes, taxes that they owe.
And the way it works is this: If you’re a typical American — like I suspect most of the press people sitting in front of me here — you pay your taxes.
Why?
Because you get a W-2 form.
It comes in the mail every year.
The IRS gets that information as well.
Your taxes get deducted from your paycheck, and you pay what is owed beyond that.
That’s why about 99 percent of working people pay the taxes they owe.
But that’s not how it works for people with tens of millions of dollars.
They play by a different set of rules.
And they’re often not employees themselves, so the IRS can’t see what they make and can’t tell if they’re cheating.
That’s how many of the top 1 percent get away with paying virtually nothing.
It’s estimated by serious economists that that number is about $160 billion collectively owed each year that doesn’t get paid.
It’s not an even playing field.
My plan would help solve that.
For example, it would give the IRS the resources it needs to keep up with the lawyers and accountants in the super — of the super-wealthy.
It would ask just for two pieces of information from the banks of these folks: that amounts — the amounts that come into their bank accounts and what amounts go out of their bank accounts, so that the wealthy can no longer hide what they’re making and they can finally begin to pay their fair share of what they owe.
end quotes
Ah, yes, a fishing expedition through the bank records of anybody in the United States of America whose wealth Joe Biden wants to nationalize, because it’s the right thing to do, and we all know that because it is what the science says, and when the science says something to Joe Biden, it is never wrong, so he is always right!
Isn’t science just wonderful?
Joe thinks so, anyway.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-428168
Paul Plante says:
And while we are on the subject of all the wonderful and awesome powers the “science” gives to Joe Biden as president of the United States of America, let’s go back to to Remarks by President Biden on the Economy on September 16, 2021, East Room, 2:00 P.M. EDT, where we have more, as follows:
THE PRESIDENT: These policies are what the science tells us we need to do.
But here’s the truth: Yes, the pandemic has caused a lot of economic problems in the country, but the fact is our economy faced challenges long before this pandemic struck.
Working people were struggling to make it long before the pandemic arrived.
Big corporations and the very wealthy were doing very well before the pandemic.
That’s why I’ve said — starting back in my campaign for president — that it’s not enough just to build back; we have to build back better than before.
And that’s how it all begins.
Big corporations and the super wealthy have to start paying their fair share of taxes.
It’s long overdue.
I’m not out to punish anyone.
I’m a capitalist.
If you can make a million or a billion dollars, that’s great.
God bless you.
All I’m asking is you pay your fair share.
Pay your fair share just like middle-class folks do.
But that isn’t happening now.
Today, in this country, right now, the top 1 percent, for example, evade an estimated $160 billion in taxes that they owe each year.
Not new taxes, taxes that they owe.
And the way it works is this: If you’re a typical American — like I suspect most of the press people sitting in front of me here — you pay your taxes.
Why?
Because you get a W-2 form.
It comes in the mail every year.
The IRS gets that information as well.
Your taxes get deducted from your paycheck, and you pay what is owed beyond that.
That’s why about 99 percent of working people pay the taxes they owe.
But that’s not how it works for people with tens of millions of dollars.
They play by a different set of rules.
And they’re often not employees themselves, so the IRS can’t see what they make and can’t tell if they’re cheating.
That’s how many of the top 1 percent get away with paying virtually nothing.
It’s estimated by serious economists that that number is about $160 billion collectively owed each year that doesn’t get paid.
It’s not an even playing field.
My plan would help solve that.
For example, it would give the IRS the resources it needs to keep up with the lawyers and accountants in the super — of the super-wealthy.
It would ask just for two pieces of information from the banks of these folks: that amounts — the amounts that come into their bank accounts and what amounts go out of their bank accounts, so that the wealthy can no longer hide what they’re making and they can finally begin to pay their fair share of what they owe.
end quotes
Ah, yes, a fishing expedition through the bank records of anybody in the United States of America whose wealth Joe Biden wants to nationalize, because it’s the right thing to do, and we all know that because it is what the science says, and when the science says something to Joe Biden, it is never wrong, so he is always right!
Isn’t science just wonderful?
Joe thinks so, anyway.
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/w ... ent-428168
Re: POLITICS
THE DAILY MAIL
"Is the end finally in sight? New model predicts COVID cases will decline through winter and drop to 9,000 per day by March 2022 - with daily deaths falling below 100"
* A new model combined nine different models from U.S. universities looking at the trajectory of the pandemic
* In the best case scenario, COVID-19 cases are projected to decline from currently 141,897 per day to 9,054 per day
* Deaths are also projected to drop from the current 1,651 deaths per day to 59 fatalities per day
* Another scenario, which predicts the emergence of a new infectious variant, sees cases and deaths fall, by not by as much
* In that model, cases would fall modestly to 66,786 daily infections and deaths would drop to 703 daily fatalities
By MARY KEKATOS ACTING U.S. HEALTH EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:48 EDT, 22 September 2021 | UPDATED: 13:53 EDT, 22 September 2021
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic may be near with cases and deaths declining to levels not seen in more than a year by next spring, a new model predicts.
The analysis, conducted by the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looked at different scenarios regarding the trajectory of the pandemic.
Researchers predicted that the U.S. has reached the peak of the fourth wave fueled by the Delta variant and will see all indicators improve.
This includes the number of virus cases dropping to about 9,000 per day and the number of daily deaths falling below 100 by March 2022.
'Any of us who have been following this closely, given what happened with Delta, are going to be really cautious about too much optimism,' Dr Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, who is part of the Hub's Coordination Team, told NPR.
'But I do think that the trajectory is towards improvement for most of the country.'
For the new model, which was published on Wednesday, the team amalgamated nine different models from universities across the U.S.
Researchers came up with four different scenarios depending on whether or not children between ages five and 11 are authorized to get vaccinated and whether or not a new variant starts spreading.
The model does not advocate for or against childhood vaccinations, but merely suggests they will begin occurring by fall 2021.
Lessler told NPR that the most likely scenario sees kids being approved for Covid shots against and no highly transmissible strain being identified.
According to the model, this will result in weekly COVID-19 cases declining from the current 993,279, or 141,897 per day, to 63,383 weekly cases, or 9,054 per day by March 2022.
Deaths would also fall from 11,563 weekly deaths now, or 1,651 per day, to 415 weekly fatalities, or about 59 per day.
These are figures not seen since late March 2020, when states first began shutting down and implementing stay-at-home orders.
Experts have previously the decline in cases be attributed to two things: vaccines and the 'true' number of people infected by the virus.
As of Wednesday, 63.9 percent of the entire U.S. population, or 212 million - has received at least one dose of the vaccine and 54.7 percent are fully vaccinated.
This means that nearly two-thirds of Americans have at least some level of protection against the virus.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that far more than 42.2 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and the true figure stands at 120.2 million.
Combine this 120.2 million statistic with the number of people who have been vaccinated and the virus is running out of vulnerable bodies to infect.
Notably, the model predicts there won't be a surge in winter as was seen last year, but the researchers tell NPR there will be variability between states.
In the worst case scenario, in which children aren't approved for vaccination and a new variant that is 1.5 times more transmissible starts circulating, cases and deaths would still decline - but not by as much.
The model predicts this scenario would led to weekly cases falling to 467,507, or 66,786 daily infections, and 4,922 weekly deaths, or 703 daily deaths by next spring.
These numbers are similar to levels that were seen during summer 2020, amid the second wave of the pandemic, and in April 2021, following the deadly third wave.
The team warns Americans not to led their guards up and to keep following mitigation measures, such as wearing masks in public.
'We have to be cautious because the virus has shown us time and time again that new variants or people loosening up on how careful they're being can lead things to come roaring back,' Lessler told NPR.
'I think a lot of people have been tending to think that with this surge, it just is never going to get better.'
'And so maybe I just need to stop worrying about it and take risks.'
'But I think these projections show us there is a light at the end of the tunnel.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... -2022.html
"Is the end finally in sight? New model predicts COVID cases will decline through winter and drop to 9,000 per day by March 2022 - with daily deaths falling below 100"
* A new model combined nine different models from U.S. universities looking at the trajectory of the pandemic
* In the best case scenario, COVID-19 cases are projected to decline from currently 141,897 per day to 9,054 per day
* Deaths are also projected to drop from the current 1,651 deaths per day to 59 fatalities per day
* Another scenario, which predicts the emergence of a new infectious variant, sees cases and deaths fall, by not by as much
* In that model, cases would fall modestly to 66,786 daily infections and deaths would drop to 703 daily fatalities
By MARY KEKATOS ACTING U.S. HEALTH EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 12:48 EDT, 22 September 2021 | UPDATED: 13:53 EDT, 22 September 2021
The end of the COVID-19 pandemic may be near with cases and deaths declining to levels not seen in more than a year by next spring, a new model predicts.
The analysis, conducted by the COVID-19 Scenario Modeling Hub, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), looked at different scenarios regarding the trajectory of the pandemic.
Researchers predicted that the U.S. has reached the peak of the fourth wave fueled by the Delta variant and will see all indicators improve.
This includes the number of virus cases dropping to about 9,000 per day and the number of daily deaths falling below 100 by March 2022.
'Any of us who have been following this closely, given what happened with Delta, are going to be really cautious about too much optimism,' Dr Justin Lessler, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, who is part of the Hub's Coordination Team, told NPR.
'But I do think that the trajectory is towards improvement for most of the country.'
For the new model, which was published on Wednesday, the team amalgamated nine different models from universities across the U.S.
Researchers came up with four different scenarios depending on whether or not children between ages five and 11 are authorized to get vaccinated and whether or not a new variant starts spreading.
The model does not advocate for or against childhood vaccinations, but merely suggests they will begin occurring by fall 2021.
Lessler told NPR that the most likely scenario sees kids being approved for Covid shots against and no highly transmissible strain being identified.
According to the model, this will result in weekly COVID-19 cases declining from the current 993,279, or 141,897 per day, to 63,383 weekly cases, or 9,054 per day by March 2022.
Deaths would also fall from 11,563 weekly deaths now, or 1,651 per day, to 415 weekly fatalities, or about 59 per day.
These are figures not seen since late March 2020, when states first began shutting down and implementing stay-at-home orders.
Experts have previously the decline in cases be attributed to two things: vaccines and the 'true' number of people infected by the virus.
As of Wednesday, 63.9 percent of the entire U.S. population, or 212 million - has received at least one dose of the vaccine and 54.7 percent are fully vaccinated.
This means that nearly two-thirds of Americans have at least some level of protection against the virus.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests that far more than 42.2 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and the true figure stands at 120.2 million.
Combine this 120.2 million statistic with the number of people who have been vaccinated and the virus is running out of vulnerable bodies to infect.
Notably, the model predicts there won't be a surge in winter as was seen last year, but the researchers tell NPR there will be variability between states.
In the worst case scenario, in which children aren't approved for vaccination and a new variant that is 1.5 times more transmissible starts circulating, cases and deaths would still decline - but not by as much.
The model predicts this scenario would led to weekly cases falling to 467,507, or 66,786 daily infections, and 4,922 weekly deaths, or 703 daily deaths by next spring.
These numbers are similar to levels that were seen during summer 2020, amid the second wave of the pandemic, and in April 2021, following the deadly third wave.
The team warns Americans not to led their guards up and to keep following mitigation measures, such as wearing masks in public.
'We have to be cautious because the virus has shown us time and time again that new variants or people loosening up on how careful they're being can lead things to come roaring back,' Lessler told NPR.
'I think a lot of people have been tending to think that with this surge, it just is never going to get better.'
'And so maybe I just need to stop worrying about it and take risks.'
'But I think these projections show us there is a light at the end of the tunnel.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... -2022.html
Re: POLITICS
THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 21, 2021 AT 8:27 PM
Paul Plante says:
And staying with the timeline here, because timelines are important to our understanding of Joe Biden’s dangerous COVID lies and distortions, let’s go back to the following, to wit:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by President Biden on Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic
SEPTEMBER 09, 2021
5:02 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand.
First, we have cons- — we have made considerable progress in battling COVID-19.
The week before I took office, on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19.
Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.
end quotes
According to the statistics, on 3 January 2021, the day Nancy Pelosi guaranteed to her fellow Democrats that when the sealed boxes containing the results of the electoral college were all opened three days later on 6 January 2021, Joe Biden would be the president, the total number of deaths in the U.S. on that date was 371,921.
Three (3) days later, on 6 January 2021, when the violence incited by Joe Biden in his toxic and poisonous political partisan Pittsburgh Speech on August 31, 2020 calling for the overthrow of Donald Trump as president was taking place in Washington. D.C. at the Capitol, the number of deaths had risen to 381,901.
On 20 January 2021, the day the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump administration to the Biden administration took place pursuant to OUR Constitution, the number of COVID deaths had increased to 429,080.
On September 9, 2021, the date of Joe’s speech above, the COVID death toll stood at 677,925.
On 3 January 2021, the number of daily deaths that day was 1,523.
January 4, 2021, the count was 2,005.
January 5, 2021, the count was 3863.
On January 6, 2021, the daily death count was 4112.
In the week before the peaceful transfer of power on 20 January 2021, the daily death count according to the COVID tracking project at The Atlantic was as follows:
13 January 2021: 4087
14 January 2021: 3915
15 January 2021: 3679
16 January 2021: 3709
17 January 2021: 2053
18 January 2021: 1395
19 January 2021: 2141
Which equals out to 20,979, not over 25,000.
On 9 September 2021, the date of Joe Biden’s above speech, the daily death count was 2261.
In the week before, it was as follows:
2 September 2021: 2021
3 September 2021: 1876
4 September 2021: 1361
5 September 2021: 1027
6 September 2021: 850
7 September 2021: 1204
8 September 2021: 1987
Which equals out to 10,326.
However, on 9 September 2021, this is what Joe told us: Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.
If it was down seventy percent of the total for the week before 20 January 2021, that would be would be 14,685 deaths lower, for a total of 6,294, not the actual 10,326.
So is Joe blowing some smoke there, people?
And of course he is, because he is Joe Biden, and that is what Joe Biden does – blows torrents of smoke!
And let’s look at the week after Joe’s 9 September 2021 speech to see what it is we see:
10 September 2021: 1991
11 September 2021 1460
12 September 2021: 867
13 September 2021: 1014
14 September 2021: 2113
15 September 2021: 2417
16 September 2021: 2065
Which equals out to 11,927, 1601 deaths higher than the 10,326 deaths in the week before!
So what’s up with that, people?
I thought Joe had this whole thing under control!
And from 13 June 2021 to about 18 July 2021 there was a definite trough where the daily deaths were down around 300 per day, so this excuse that this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” doesn’t cut it, at all.
But again, this is Joe Biden we are talking about, so should anybody be surprised that he has his own set of numbers to tell us to make himself look good?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-428237
Paul Plante says:
And staying with the timeline here, because timelines are important to our understanding of Joe Biden’s dangerous COVID lies and distortions, let’s go back to the following, to wit:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Remarks by President Biden on Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic
SEPTEMBER 09, 2021
5:02 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand.
First, we have cons- — we have made considerable progress in battling COVID-19.
The week before I took office, on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19.
Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.
end quotes
According to the statistics, on 3 January 2021, the day Nancy Pelosi guaranteed to her fellow Democrats that when the sealed boxes containing the results of the electoral college were all opened three days later on 6 January 2021, Joe Biden would be the president, the total number of deaths in the U.S. on that date was 371,921.
Three (3) days later, on 6 January 2021, when the violence incited by Joe Biden in his toxic and poisonous political partisan Pittsburgh Speech on August 31, 2020 calling for the overthrow of Donald Trump as president was taking place in Washington. D.C. at the Capitol, the number of deaths had risen to 381,901.
On 20 January 2021, the day the peaceful transfer of power from the Trump administration to the Biden administration took place pursuant to OUR Constitution, the number of COVID deaths had increased to 429,080.
On September 9, 2021, the date of Joe’s speech above, the COVID death toll stood at 677,925.
On 3 January 2021, the number of daily deaths that day was 1,523.
January 4, 2021, the count was 2,005.
January 5, 2021, the count was 3863.
On January 6, 2021, the daily death count was 4112.
In the week before the peaceful transfer of power on 20 January 2021, the daily death count according to the COVID tracking project at The Atlantic was as follows:
13 January 2021: 4087
14 January 2021: 3915
15 January 2021: 3679
16 January 2021: 3709
17 January 2021: 2053
18 January 2021: 1395
19 January 2021: 2141
Which equals out to 20,979, not over 25,000.
On 9 September 2021, the date of Joe Biden’s above speech, the daily death count was 2261.
In the week before, it was as follows:
2 September 2021: 2021
3 September 2021: 1876
4 September 2021: 1361
5 September 2021: 1027
6 September 2021: 850
7 September 2021: 1204
8 September 2021: 1987
Which equals out to 10,326.
However, on 9 September 2021, this is what Joe told us: Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.
If it was down seventy percent of the total for the week before 20 January 2021, that would be would be 14,685 deaths lower, for a total of 6,294, not the actual 10,326.
So is Joe blowing some smoke there, people?
And of course he is, because he is Joe Biden, and that is what Joe Biden does – blows torrents of smoke!
And let’s look at the week after Joe’s 9 September 2021 speech to see what it is we see:
10 September 2021: 1991
11 September 2021 1460
12 September 2021: 867
13 September 2021: 1014
14 September 2021: 2113
15 September 2021: 2417
16 September 2021: 2065
Which equals out to 11,927, 1601 deaths higher than the 10,326 deaths in the week before!
So what’s up with that, people?
I thought Joe had this whole thing under control!
And from 13 June 2021 to about 18 July 2021 there was a definite trough where the daily deaths were down around 300 per day, so this excuse that this is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated” doesn’t cut it, at all.
But again, this is Joe Biden we are talking about, so should anybody be surprised that he has his own set of numbers to tell us to make himself look good?
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-428237